Firefighters are being resupplied tomorrow with a mule train and by helicopter. An additional wildfire module and a hotshot crew will be transported to the fire area on Friday.
What goes into wilderness fires: Many wilderness fires, such as the current Cow Fire, are in remote areas where fire engines and water tenders have no access - and in federally designated wilderness areas such as the Golden Trout Wilderness - motorized vehicles are not allowed even if they could get into the fire area. How to manage a wilderness fire? One answer is with "wildfire modules", specially trained crews that can monitor and manage backcountry fires. These wildfire module crews are made up of 7 -10 experienced wildland firefighters who are self-sufficient for weeks at a time in the backcountry. "This is what these crews are made for. They understand the wilderness esthetic, use natural barriers to contain/confine fire and can use fire to strengthen containment lines, but they are primarily data collectors: they take weather data, map the fire perimeter and collect fuel samples to determine fuel conditions. They are essentially technical specialists in the back country” said Todd McDivitt, Battalion Chief on the Mt. Whitney Ranger District. We currently have 2 wildfire modules working on the Cow Fire.
Closure Order: Several back-country trail segments have been closed for public safety and firefighter focus. All segments are on R35E T18S Section 31 and R35E T19S Sections 4,5,6,8,9,17 and 18 of the Templeton Mountain topo map. The segments are:
- 3507 from Templeton Cow Camp east to the intersection with 3412/3512 near Strawberry Creek
- 3510 from the intersection with 3512 near Strawberry Creek east to the South Fork of the Kern River
- 3512 from the intersection with 3510 (near Strawberry Creek) south to Schaeffer Stringer near Iron Spring
- 3511 from where it intersects 3512 south to where it crosses Schaeffer Stringer
Inciweb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6529/ (note: this is listed as the “Cow”; another fire in Oregon is the “Cow Fire” on Inciweb)